Direct measurement and analysis of total ionizing dose effect on 130 nm PD SOI SRAM cell static noise margin

In this work, the total ionizing dose（TID） effect on 130 nm partially depleted（PD） silicon-on-insulator（SOI） static random access memory（SRAM） cell stability is measured. The SRAM cell test structure allowing direct measurement of the static noise margin（SNM） is specifically designed and irradiated by gamma-ray. Both data sides＇ SNM of 130 nm PD SOI SRAM cell are decreased by TID, which is different from the conclusion obtained in old generation devices that one data side＇s SNM is decreased and the other data side＇s SNM is increased. Moreover, measurement of SNM under different supply voltages（Vdd） reveals that SNM is more sensitive to TID under lower Vdd. The impact of TID on SNM under data retention Vddshould be tested, because Vddof SRAM cell under data retention mode is lower than normal Vdd.The mechanism under the above results is analyzed by measurement of I–V characteristics of SRAM cell transistors.

An accurate analytical I-V model for sub-90-nm MOSFETs and its application to read static noise margin modeling

We propose an accurate model to describe the I-V characteristics of a sub-90-nm metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor(MOSFET) in the linear and saturation regions for fast analytical calculation of the current.The model is based on the BSIM3v3 model.Instead of using constant threshold voltage and early voltage,as is assumed in the BSIM3v3 model,we define these voltages as functions of the gate-source voltage.The accuracy of the model is verified by comparison with HSPICE for the 90-,65-,45-,and 32-nm CMOS technologies.The model shows better accuracy than the nth-power and BSIM3v3 models.Then,we use the proposed I-V model to calculate the read static noise margin(SNM) of nano-scale conventional 6T static random-access memory(SRAM) cells with high accuracy.We calculate the read SNM by approximating the inverter transfer voltage characteristic of the cell in the regions where vertices of the maximum square of the butterfly curves are placed.The results for the SNM are also in excellent agreement with those of the HSPICE simulation for 90-,65-,45-,and 32-nm technologies.Verification in the presence of process variations and negative bias temperature instability(NBTI) shows that the model can accurately predict the minimum supply voltage required for a target yield.

Process Tolerant and Power Efficient SRAM Cell for Internet of Things Applications

The use of Internet of Things(IoT)applications become dominant in many systems.Its on-chip data processing and computations are also increasing consistently.The battery enabled and low leakage memory system at subthreshold regime is a critical requirement for these IoT applications.The cache memory designed on Static Random-Access Memory(SRAM)cell with features such as low power,high speed,and process tolerance are highly important for the IoT memory system.Therefore,a process tolerant SRAM cell with low power,improved delay and better stability is presented in this research paper.The proposed cell comprises 11 transistors designed with symmetric approach for write operations and single ended circuit for read operations that exhibits an average dynamic power saving of 43.55%and 47.75%for write and 35.59%and 36.56%for read operations compared to 6 T and 8 T SRAM cells.The cell shows an improved write delay of 26.46%and 37.16%over 6 T and 8T and read delay is lowered by 50.64%and 72.90%against 6 T and 10 T cells.The symmetric design used in core latch to improve the write noise margin(WNM)by 17.78%and 6.67%whereas the single ended separate read circuit improves the Read Static Noise Margin(RSNM)by 1.88x and 0.33x compared to 6 T and 8T cells.The read power delay product and write power delay product are lower by 1.94x,1.39x and 0.17x,2.02x than 6 T and 8 T cells respectively.The lower variability from 5000 samples validates the robustness of the proposed cell.The simulations are carried out in Cadence virtuoso simulator tool with Generic Process Design Kit(GPDK)45 nm technology file in this work.

An isolated SNM model for high-stability multi-port register file in 65 nm CMOS

In modern microprocessors, the multi-port register file is one of the key modules which provides fast and multiple data access for instructions. As the number of access ports in register files increases, stability becomes a key issue due to the voltage fluctuation on bit lines. We propose to apply an isolated inverter to address the voltage fluctuation. To assess the register stability, we derive a closed-form expression of static noise margin （SNM） for our register file. The proposed SNM model can be used as a guideline to predict the impact of several register parameters on the stability and optimize register file designs. To validate the proposed SNM model, we fabricated a test chip of two-write-four-read （2W4R） 1024 bits register file in a TSMC 65 nm low-power CMOS technology. The experimental result shows that the stability of our register file cells with an isolated inverter improve the conventional cells by approximately 2.4 times. Also, the supply voltage causes a fluctuation of SNM of about 65%, while temperature and transistor mismatch cause a fluctuation of SNM of about 20%.

A novel high reliability CMOS SRAM cell

A novel 8T single-event-upset（SEU） hardened and high static noise margin（SNM） SRAM cell is proposed. By adding one transistor paralleled with each access transistor,the drive capability of pull-up PMOS is greater than that of the conventional cell and the read access transistors are weaker than that of the conventional cell.So the hold,read SNM and critical charge increase greatly.The simulation results show that the critical charge is almost three times larger than that of the conventional 6T cell by appropriately sizing the pull-up transistors.The hold and read SNM of the new cell increase by 72%and 141.7%,respectively,compared to the 6T design,but it has a 54%area overhead and read performance penalty.According to these features,this novel cell suits high reliability applications,such as aerospace and military.

A 200 mV low leakage current subthreshold SRAM bitcell in a 130 nm CMOS process

A low leakage current subthreshold SRAM in 130 nm CMOS technology is proposed for ultra low voltage（200 mV） applications.Almost all of the previous subthreshold works ignore the leakage current in both active and standby modes.To minimize leakage,a self-adaptive leakage cut off scheme is adopted in the proposed design without any extra dynamic energy dissipation or performance penalty.Combined with buffering circuit and reconfigurable operation,the proposed design ensures both read and standby stability without deteriorating writability in the subthreshold region.Compared to the referenced subthreshold SRAM bitcell,the proposed bitcell shows：（1） a better critical state noise margin,and（2） smaller leakage current in both active and standby modes. Measurement results show that the proposed SRAM functions well at a 200 mV supply voltage with 0.13μW power consumption at 138 kHz frequency.